Evening star. [volume], April 11, 1955, Page A-6 ***, Image 6

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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A-6 ***
'THE EVENING STAR, Washington, D. C.
MONBAT. Aran. 11, ISAS
. %’ -si
DOORWAY THROUGH THE SNOW
ST. HILAIRE DE DORSET—One of the 285 villagers of this
Quebec town stands by a tunnel cut In a pile of snow. It
was used Easter Sunday to get through to a church on a
road beyond—AP Wirephoto.
Czech Demand for Return
Os Border Guard Rejected
The United States has rejected
a demand of Communist Czecho
slovakia for the return of a
Czech border ruard who fled to
West Germany on April 2.
In a note delivered Saturday
to Czech authorities in Prague,
the United States said the guard,
Jan Fojtik, requested and has
been granted political asylum.
The Czechoslovakian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs filed two
notes asking that the guard be
returned allegedly for question
ing as to responsibility for the
fatal shooting of a second guard
at the time Fojtik escaped. The
American reply stated in part:
"The Embassy (at Prague),
has been instructed to inform
the Ministry that as a result of
an investigation, the United
States authorities have ascer
tained that the border guard,
Jan Fojtik, escaped from Czech
oslovakia for political reasons.
SEGREGATION
Continued From First Page
the country set on the road to
a uniform amenability to its
Constitution.
“The right asserted here is not
the only one at stake. The fate
of other great constitutional
freedoms, whether secured by
the Fourteenth Amendment or
by other provisions, is inevitably
bound up in the decision to be
made in these cases."
Other Main Contentions
Other main contentions in the
reply brief included charges
that:
1. The State briefs do not offer
any affirmative plan for desegre
gation but merely repeat old
arguments in favor of indefinite
continuation of racial segrega
tion.
2. Opinion polls purporting to
reflect public sentiment in vari
ous Btates and communities are
Immaterial in the current judi
cial proceedings and. moreover
do not give any real proof that
a gradual changeover from
segregated school systems is
necessary.
3. Asserted average differences
In Negro and white student
groups also have no relevance
to the individual rights under
the Constitution. Such differ
ences can be handled adminis
tratively without reference to
race.
Disadvantages Described
As for some State contentions
as to the educational, cultqral
or health shortcomings of
Negroes, the brief said:
“That the Negro is so dis
advantaged educationally and
culturally in the States where
segregation is required is the
strongest argument against its
continuation for any period of
time.
"Those who use this argument
as a basis for interminable
delay in the elimination of
segregation in reality are seek
ing to utilize the product of
their own wrongdoing as a
justification for continued mal
feasance. State briefs seek to
further limit the educational
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He has requested and been
granted political asylum.
"In the circumstances, the
Ministry’s demand that he be
returned represents a proposal
that the United States Govern
ment should deny the right of
political asylum and violate its
traditional practice of refusing
to return to a foreign jurisdic
tion persons who have ldft it
for political reasons. The Ijbited
States cannot accept this pro
posal and the Ministry's demand
for Fojtik’s return is accordingly
rejected.
“Under a system of political
oppression denying its citizens
the right to choose freedom,
violence and tragedy are bound
to occur. The Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, should, there
fore. be aware that the death
of either an escapee or a border
guard is a tragic event for which
only the Czechoslovakian Gov
ernment is responsible."
rights of Negro students by
broad characterization of group
Intelligence, group morality and
health. The conditions they,
complain of can never be
remedied as long as segregation
in public schools is continued.
There •is nothing to indicate
that an extended delay in order
ing elimination of all segrega
tion will improve public atti
tudes or eliminate the objec
tions presently interposed ”
District government officials
indicated they will notify the
court, as they did in their writ
ten brief last fall, that public
school integration in this city is
well under way in accordance
with a detailed plan devised
months ago.” They suggest that
no detailed compliance order be
issued.
But that stand is disputed by
Attorneys George E. C. Hayes
and James M. Nabrit, represent
lrig parents of the Negro children
who in 1950 originated the legal
challenge against the constitu
tionality of the dual school sys
tem here.
Attack Coming Flan
Their basic argument is out
lined as follows:
They charged that the so
called Coming Plan, now in
effect here and presented months
ago by School Bupt. Hobart M.
Corning, is based upon an as
sumption which is neither justi
fied nor supported;:.
They hope to show that in
several Instances the plan has
been attacked as Inadequate and
has been changed since it first
was devised.
They plan to tell the Supreme
Court that in view of asserted
defects in the plan, various rem
edies should be effected or or
dered Accordingly, they indi
cated that they will suggest that
the District case is not “moot”
and that the Supreme Court
should issue a decree spelling out
exactly what—and how soon—
the District as well as the four
States should do to implement
the May 17 decision.
The Supreme Court has given
no Indication as to when it will
make a pronouncement on
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Careening Car
Kills 3 Youths
By U>* AMOcliMd Press
Thirteen highway deaths were
reported to Virginia State Police
over the week end. including
those of three Wise County teen
agers struck by a car careening
wildly son the left side of the
road.
The State traffic toll for the
year rose to 178.
The three young people, along
with two others, were returning
from a movie at Coeburn when
they were stHkk. One of the
other two was Injured.
Killed were Beverly Lynn
Cooper, 16: Betty Lou Kilgore,
15, and Thurston Hale, 15, all of
Coeburn. In a critical condition
in a Norton hospital was Peggy
Cooper, 14, of Coeburn.
Police arrested Charley Leon
ard, 21, of Cleveland, Va., and
charged him with manslaughter.
Police said he rounded a curve,
swerved to the left side of the
highway, struck an old pickup
truck parked off the road, and
then plowed Into the teen-agers.
A 40-year-old Frederick (Md.)
man, Elden Medford Campbell,
was crushed to death by the
door of his car after he was
thrown part way out of the ve
hicle as it ran off the road near
Strasburg Saturday night. The
car door struck a tree.
Quake Rocks
Philippines
MANILA, April 11 m.—Wide
spread earthquakes today col
lapsed homes, split highways and
injured an undetermined num
ber of persons in the Southern
Philippines—already hard-hit by
disastrous tremors April 1.
There were no immediate re
ports of deaths. The April 1
quake caused at least 432 deaths
and left thousands homeless.
Quakes of intensity three to
six on a scale of ten panicked
residents in nine cities, six of
them on Mindanao, second larg
est island, Philippine News Serv
ice reported.
The tremors began at 1:40 am.
and lasted from 10 to 45 seconds.
PNS said many persons were
injured in the Lake Lanao area
of Mindanao which bore the
brunt of the previous earth
quakes.
Residents in the Marantau
district on the west shore of the
take reported “a yardwide fissure
extending several miles” imme
diately after the first shock, said
PNS.
NEHRU CONSIDERS
PROPERTY JUST
'A NUISANCE ‘
NEW DELHI, India, April
11 W. —Prime Minister Neh
ru told the Indian Parlia
ment today, “Property is a:
nuisance and burden, and
life’s journey must be light.”
Speaking on a bill to pay
for expropriated property,
which is expected to be
passed by the lower house
tomorrow and by the upper
house next Friday, Mr. Neh
ru declared:
"Everyone is agreed on the
sanctity of private property,
but there’s nothing divine
about it. Speaking person
ally. I have no respect for
my own properties, except a
few personal belongings.”
whether it will order immediate
integration in the specific arras,
direct a gradual transition, or
send the cases back to lower
Federal courts with instructions
to work out detailed decrees.
The tribunal's current term
ends In early June. In Decem
ber, 1952, and December. 1953.
it heard extensive arguments on
the issue of racial segregation
in public schools. The opinion
last May settled the question
whether such segregation was
constitutional.
The court declared unani
mously that the system was un
constitutional. But because of
“additional practical” problems
of considerable complexity.” the
court invited litigants in the
five cases and other interested
parties to offer suggestions on
the most equitable and effective
way of ending public school
racial segregation.
C'est Magnifique!
Muy Delicioso!
E' Superiore!
in My biigusgs
DUKE ZHBERrS
Food is tops!.
DUKcln?
ZEIBERT’S
RESTAURANT
1790 l ST., N.W.
Twe Am.Wm d Cam. Av«.
IllimSlM Srarftof 3.1730
fife W MMbfcM • U»4mr 'M 10 *m. ,
AwwiMMey''
f WAS A SLAVS LABORER *•>*
100,000 Defy Reds '
And Go on Strike
BY JOHN H. NOBLE
NEW YORK. April 11—Vor
kuta seethed with discontent.
We slave laborers were fed up
with the inhuman conditions,
i the abject monotony, the inces
sant work, the MVD Informers,
the terrirle cold, the persecution
by the murderous blatnoi (pro
fessional criminals) and the
hopelessness. L-ke myself, most
|of the men were serving sen
tences of 15 years—or longer.
When the discontent was re
flected in large coal production
Eighth in a Scries of Articles
declines, the Soviets took a told
step. In April 1952, they began
paying us a small salary, 100
rubles a month, with bonuses
tor exceeding the norm. How
ever, )1 a laborer produced less
than his norm—even 1 per cent
less—he ntceived no pay at all.
The Red plan increased coal
production, but it otherwise
backfired. As half-starved ani
mals we had little strength to
protest. Now, with money to buy
extra food at the camp store,
we seldom went hungry. Thus
we gained the courage to com
plain and the alertness to think
about our fate.
In camp, our resentment
boiled up occasionally in sabo
tage. Prisoners blew up mine
shafts with stolen dynamite. All
Vortuka was a ticking time
bomb, needed only a spark to
set it off.
News of Stalin Death
In 1953, three closely related
incidents provided the spark.
The first was the death of Josef
Stalin in March I was down in
Mine No. 16. The news came
over the loudspeaker in the hall
way. Slave laborers, "free” peo
ple, MVD guards gathered to
listen.
Stalin’s death sent.a wave of
hope through Vorkuta. The re
lease of the. Jewish doctors sug
gested something must be hap
pening. Then, on April 14, an
amnesty was given all prisoners
serving less than five years. In
all, 5,000 men were released from
Vorkuta.
Months passed. Then in June,
we heard startling news. Laventrl
Beria, the boss of all the slave
camps, had been arrested. There
* *
tow to get your kusband jm/)
kome from tke office: J
Just between us, lady, your hard-working husband will get' i
away from the office a lot earlier after you provide him with work- /
ing space at home! And how about you? Have you a convenient I f*—'
“headquarters” for running the household? Where do you keep ac- (y —
cumulated bills, check stubs and letters you’re going to answer
“later”? If yours is a desk-less home, we’ll bet they’re scattered all i
over! Yet, you really don’t need an efficiency expert. Just a desk! /
And these 3 are so low priced you can buy one with the -y
change in your cookie jar.
r jP
Main Store: Bth fr PENNSYLVANIA AVE. S.E. ' I B
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SMART BLACK METAL
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RESISTANT "NEVA- ■ TT 9
SLEEK LIMED OAK PEDESTAL / MAR" TOP
( V , ||* EASY PARKING*# BU D GET TE RMJ^AVAiIaI it• f
was s rumor that he had disap
peared with 17 other members
of the government.
Shocker for MVD
This was shocking news to the
MVD who ran Vorkuta. MVD
officers nervously waited to fol
low Beria into prison. The “free”
people—all civilian employes of
the MVD—refused to answer my
question: “What do you think of
Beria’s arrest?"
It wasn’t clearly defined im
mediately. But from then on,
the officials of the camp were
split—some loyal to Beria, the
others to Malenkov, the new
Premier. The MVD officers were
visibly shaken. _A few of the
guards even asked us slaves:
“What do you think will happen
now?
What did happen surprised
even the most astute of my fel
low slave laborers in Camp No,
3 One hundred thousand slaves
In Vorkuta went on strike—the
first mass demonstration against
the Communists in 35 years!
Someone else made the de
cision for us. The first week In
July, when the snow was all
melted and the sun shone con
tinually, I heard from the free
people in the washroom that
Mines No. 17 and 18 were strik
ing. The slaves had simply put
down their tools and refused to
go into the mine. And strangest
of all—the MVD was doing noth
ing about it.
Then the strike spread to
Mines No. 9, 10 and 25, then to
Mine No. 7 in our neighboring
camp. Now everyone was con
vinced that the miracle was hap
pening. We could see that for
the first time, the wheels on the
mine elevator were not turning.
Coal cars coming through one
camp from Mine No. 7 were
three-fourths empty, and chalked
across the inside in big, bold
Russian letters was written: “To
hell with your coal. We want
freedom!” Leaflets pasted on the
car read: “Comrades from Mines
12. 14 and 18. Don’t let us down.
You know we are striking.”
Noble Gets Key Role
We formed a strike committee.
The leader was Gureyvich, a Rus
sian Jew and former diplomat to
France. A committee represen
tative came to see me in the
barracks. “When the time is
ready for the camp to strike you
will have the most Important job,
Noble,” be said. "It is your re
sponsibility to convince the Com
munist department managers and
engineers not to Interfere.
The time came July 23. The
prisoners needed something to
give them extra courage. We
went to work that- morning but
about noon, new arrivals from
the Karaganda slave camp re
fused to go into the mine unless
they were issued working clothes.
The storeroom had none. That
set it off. Everyone took the
example of the Karaganda reb
els and refused to work.
The slaves of Camp 3 were
on strike.
In the washroom one of the
department managers seemed
pleased. He said: “I see you've
finally gotten up enough courage
to start.” I convinced him he
should leave the camp and take
one of the others, a dogmatic
Red. with him. A few minutes
later the chief engineer and the
other "free” people left. I had
done my job.
MVD Guard Posts Leaflet
When I got back to the bar
racks I learned that printed
strike leaflets with our demands
were posted in all the barracks
and outhouses—although we had
no press. I rushed to our out
house to see. I saw an MVD
guard pasting a leaflet on thq
wall. We had excellent allies I
Our demands were simple: Re
lease of all prisoners who had
served 10 years or more in any
Russian prison; for the rest, the
authorities should check the rec
ords, release all the innocent, and
set new, lower sentences accord
ing to international law. Other
wise, we said, no coal comes out
of the mine for Leningrad.
Thirty of the Karaganda men
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who had set off the (trike had
been put into the camp prison
and immediately 2,000 of us, with
Gureyvich and the strike com
mittee, stormed down toward the
prison. MVD Msj. Tchevchenko,
the camp commander, and his
political officer, Capt. Buikoff.
tried to calm us, but we packed
in front of the prison and yelled
for the release of the Karagan
das.
Meanwhile the harsh MVD
lieutenant in charge of restric
tion pulled up with several po
lice cars and trucks. One hun
dred MVD and Red Army troops
piled out and surrounded the
camp fences. Our crowd started
cursing and barred their way
through the gate.
Then suddenly, the Karagan
das, who had overcome three
drunken guards in the prison,
dashed out into the yard. We
set up a tremendous yell and
immediately the MVD lieutenant
ordered: "Open fire." i
It lasted 20 seconds. When it
was over, 15 men lay on the
ground. Two were dead—one
prisoner whose time was up-in
two months had had the top of
his head blown off by an explo
sive bullet. A stray bullet had
gone threw the hospital window
and punctured the lung of a pa
tient in bed. Two feet over my
bead there were five bullet holes
in the wall of the building.
Prisoners Seise Camp
We became enraged. Immedi
ately, Gureyvich and the crowd
seised control of the ‘camp.
Tchevchenko. Buikoff. the guards
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I and the ethers In authority were
kicked out of the camp. Gurey
vich went to the main gate—
and looking into the mussles of
100 guns—announced that from
that moment on, the camp was
under the control of the prison
ers. No one was allowed to enter
without the permission of the
strike committee. If the MVD
lieutenant or a hated guard, Mol
kof, came in the gate they would
be killed immediately.
The strike committee organ
ized the 4,500 men in the camp
thoroughly. Not one lump of coal
was taken out of the mine. Per
fect discipline was maintained.
It worked. n 6 one fired, no
one raised a hand to stop us.
They were plainly cowed—by us;
by the fact that they needed the
coal badly; because some of the
MVD men were among the con
spirators—maybe even Tchevch
enko himself; but mostly be
cause the time was plainly ripe
for rebellion.
Red and Black Flags Rise
Uprisings like ours, we heard,
were taking place in camps
throughout the Soviet Union.
The Kremlin itself was in the
turmoil of a power struggle. It
was safer for the men there to
wait and see.
(Cepyrltht, ISSS, bj North Americas
Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)
Tomorrow: Communist Mass
Murder.